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Aether Revolt Pre-Release Primer

Welcome to my pre-release primer for Aether Revolt. Hopefully this will be useful to anyone who may be new to magic or new to how pre-releases work. Over the next few articles I will talk about what you should expect from your experience as well as a rough guide to deck building, and finally my thoughts on what cards could carry you to victory. So lets get stuck in!!!

Before you arrive

I highly recommend a pre-release and they are an especially good event for new players as everyone is experiencing the new cards for the first time, which puts everyone at a more level playing field. A few tips before showing up; it is useful to have a basic grasp of the rules of the game. Another way to get ahead is to have a quick look at the list of cards being spoiled to become familiar with the set. I recommend Mythic Spoiler as a great place to keep up to date with spoilers. I will be writing an article on what I believe to be some of the better cards in the set once they have all been released.

What you will receive

You will be provided with everything you need to play on the day

4 Aether Revolt booster packs

2 Kaladesh booster packs

Randomized date-stamped premium promo card

Spindown life counter

Renegade sticker

Insert with deck-building advice

The date-stamped premium promo card can be any rare or mythic from the new set.

What to do once you get your box

So first thing is first, get cracking. The most exciting part of any pre-release is getting to see the shiny new cards, for this reason I will be opening my Kaladesh boosters last.

Once you open all your packs it is time to start building your deck. As this is a sealed format you will be expected to make a 40-card deck minimum. Most people will tell you to stick to exactly 40 cards, and this is advice you should follow, as it improves the chances of finding the cards you need.

Ok, so you have your cards all open in front of you. At this point I would sort my cards into colour piles, this lets you visually see which of your colours has the most cards. Once you have sorted this you can then look at the cards that you feel will be the strongest. Both of these will determine what colours you will run. As a rule of thumb, in a set with few ways to “fix” your mana you will probably want to stick to a one or two colour deck.

A few tips while building your deck:

Removal is great in sealed

Try to get one or two “BOMB” rares that will help you close out a game

Synergies are usually a good place to look

17 lands is the normal amount

Usually around five to six non-creature spells

Pack lots of creatures in to your deck

Look at your mana curve. The mana curve refers to the amount of spells of each cost. You should have more three mana cards than five or six mana cards.

Stick to 40 cards

Things to remember

Every card you open is part of your pool. This means between rounds you can change your deck as much as you like, using the cards that you opened. Your local store should provide you with basic lands for the tournament.

Inventions/Masterpieces

Aether revolt has some special cards that were also present in Kaladesh. These cards are called Inventions or Masterpieces and are very rare and usually worth a lot of money. The cards have special borders and look like this

These cards CAN be used in your sealed deck, so feel free to show off your new bling if you get one.

That’s all for now folks. Head over to your local game store on the 14th and 15th and have a great time. Stay tuned for my set review.